About this title: Willig continues the exciting series with her fourth novel featuring Lord Vaughn, the delightfully devilish spy from "The Masque of the Black Tulip," and Mary Alsworthy, the raven-haired beauty whose sister accidentally steals her suitor in "The Deception of the Emerald Ring."
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Book is in good reading condition. Cover has wear at edges and corners. Spine has wear at edges. Dust jacket has some wear. read more
Description: Good. 0525950338 Ex library book with stickers and stampings. Overall good condition with clean text and good binding unless otherwise noted. One page corner bent. Most items ship within 24 hours. read more
Description: NY: New American Library 2009, softcover, 459p., trade softcover, good condition, crease to front and back cover corners and bend to covers. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Date Published: 1-31-08
ISBN-13:9780143142959ISBN:014314295X
Description: FINE. Superb, crisp, clean, unabridged, 11-CD set-still in original shrinkwrap with remainder mark-GREAT, gift quality! 0.6 lbs. read more
Description: New. 0451224418 Cover has very little shelf wear. No spine seams. No remainder mark. Pages are clean with no markings, no creases and no dog-ears. Trade Paperback. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: NAL Trade
Date Published: 2008-12-30
ISBN-13:9780451224415ISBN:0451224418
Description: New. New, unread, unused & in perfect condition with no damaged or missing pages. Collectible pre-release book with same cover. Great Copy. Ships Lightning Fast. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: NAL Trade
Date Published: 2008-12-30
ISBN-13:9780451224415ISBN:0451224418
Description: New. New, unread, unused & in perfect condition with no damaged or missing pages. Collectible pre-release book with same cover. Great Copy. Ships Lightning Fast. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: NAL Trade
Date Published: 2008-12-30
ISBN-13:9780451224415ISBN:0451224418
Description: New. No jacket as issued. New paperback book with publisher's inventory mark. We ship 6 days a week, generally within 24 hours; single CDs and DVDs upgraded to 1st class! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: New Amer Library
Date Published: 2008-12-30
ISBN-13:9780451224415ISBN:0451224418
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780451224415. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: NAL Trade
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780451224415ISBN:0451224418
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"Some of the Eloise chapters had me LOL, but overall I had a hard time getting into this book. Mary and Vaughn, the leads of the historical chapters, were both minor characters in earlier books. This time around they're using Mary as bait to discover the identity of the Black Tulip for the Pink Carnation. The plot was good, the action was well paced, and the twists and turns were believable, but I didn't especially like Mary or Vaughn. Liking the characters is a must for me, but Mary and Vaughn were self centered and played games, and they acknowledged it."
"this is my favorite of the pink carnation series thus far. the pink carnation formula is alive and well, but i enjoyed the characters so much more because they centered less on honor and protecting jolly olde england and more on personal gain and intrigue. i loved that mary was coniving and sharp and that lord vaughn was impudent and a quick wit. i really enjoy characters who could easily be confused for villains.
and hurray for colin and eloise, but i hope this doesn't spell disaster for my interest in them for subsequent books.
"I reviewed this book at my blog. Twice, since it's one I've re-read quite a number of times now. Here's the combined craziness:
In The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, Lauren Willig has pulled off an extraordinary feat: She has taken a woman who was established to be a spoiled, somewhat conniving social-climber as her Regency heroine, and paired her with a man who, in two prior books, has shown himself to be a somewhat predatory and amoral rake at best, and a dangerous double-agent at worst - he's too slippery to pin down, really - and she makes me love them both. With a big, hearty love. And that, my friends, is some Very Good Writing.
In this, the fourth novel in the Pink Carnation series, we follow the story of Mary Alsworthy (sister to Letty, the heroine of The Deception of the Emerald Ring). Master spy, the Pink Carnation, has asked Lord Vaughn (rogue, bounder, scoundrel and somewhat pretentious cad) to enlist Mary's assistance in catching the Black Tulip - a French spy first introduced properly in The Masque of the Black Tulip. Vaughn never speaks in simple sentences when double entendres will do, and is a bit of a roué. Mary is, as stated, a social-climbing conniver who finds herself in the awkward position of being a hanger-on in the home of her younger sister, who accidentally eloped with Mary's intended beau; naturally, Letty and Geoff are blissfully happy in their romance, and Mary is, well, in a state of constant mortification.
Mary and Vaughn have a lot in common, as well as a lot of issues to overcome. The plot moves along at a terrific pace, and is extremely interested. Once again, points to me for immediately sorting out the identity of the Black Tulip. I mean, I know I said that in book 2 as well, but I should qualify that I correctly identified the person acting in the capacity of the Black Tulip in that book, and I spotted the correct person in this one as well. I didn't, however, sort out the backstory for the Black Tulip, and was delighted to find it all out.
I was also terribly delighted with Eloise Kelly's story in this one, Eloise being the modern-day researcher who is relating/reading/uncovering the Regency romance portion of the book (which occupies the vast majority of the pages). Eloise finally has her date with the dishy Colin Selwick in this book, as well as interacting with a nefarious archivist. I couldn't be more pleased, I think, than I was with this book.
I realize that my fondness for this particular title in the series beginning with The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is based in part on my admiration for her taking an unlikeable woman and making her the heroine of the historical part, in part on her selection of the morally ambiguous and always urbane Lord Vaughn, in part on the modern-day romance between Eloise and Colin (which involves an actual date and first kiss in this particular book), and in part on the amount of poetry and Shakespeare that is quoted throughout the book, sometimes as chapter headers, and frequently in Vaughn's dialogue.
"Break of Day" by John Donne, is quoted twice in the book. The last couplet ("He which hath business, and makes love, doth do/Such wrong, as when a married man doth woo") is quoted as an epigram to chapter 28, and the first two lines ("Tis true, 'tis day; what though it be?/O wilt thou therefore rise from me?") are spoken by Vaughn in chapter 26. So now I'm not only re-reading the book (as mentioned in Thursday's post), but also re-reading yesterday's poem selection. Plus, I'm about to embark on re-reading Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare, which is quoted several times as epigraphs to various chapters (along with quotes from Hamlet, King Lear, Measure for Measure, As You Like It, The Winter's Tale, and Richard III, and the text includes additional quotes and references from those plays as well as Romeo and Juliet as well). Additional references are made to Paradise Lost by John Milton, several other John Donne poems, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Robert Burns, and more.
I have realized that I am a complete sucker for Shakespeare and other quotes. And now, I'm off. No, not "pursued by a bear."* I'm going to conclude my re-reading of the book, and then fish out my Complete Works of Shakespeare to start Much Ado About Nothing.
*Points to you if you recognize that as the (perhaps most-famous ever) stage direction from The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare."
"This was my favorite book in the series so far! I really enjoyed the main characters very much. Gone are the sappy, silly schoolgirls and instead are people who are less than ideal but that makes their characters even more interesting. This story had so much more mystery in it as well and that simply added to the enjoyment.
My only fault with the book is that Vaughn as a character is now done. His mystique is gone since all of his secrets have been revealed. It's too bad that he won't continue to be a player in the books because his wit and devil-may-care attitude were so much fun. Still, I love a happy ending and truly enjoyed this one. Plus, the Black Tulip has been unmasked (or has he?) and the modern story/romance was more interesting as well. I can only wonder where we're headed to in the next book."
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